Hadith: Shiʿi
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 February 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 February 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0235
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 February 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 February 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0235
Introduction
Hadith, according to Imami Shiʿi Islam, is narrative record of a saying, deed, or tacit approval attributed to one of the People of the Household (Ahl al-bayt): fourteen infallibles which include Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, and twelve rightly guided Imams appointed by the Prophet. Ismaʿili Shiʿa will concur with this definition through their chain of Imams, whereas Zaydi Shiʿa would be more open to embrace the sayings of the Companions. Generally, the chain of narrators of a particular report is supposed to be considered a part of hadith, making hadith a combination of chain of narrators (al-sanad) and text (al-matn). Theoretically, hadith serves the purpose of an auxiliary source to the Qur’an but in practice it is the focal point of reference for jurisprudence, Qur’anic exegesis, theological doctrines, and moral values. The distinct feature of Shiʿi Hadith literature, Zaydis being an exception, is the absence of hadith narrated by a Companion of the Prophet. The core message of the Prophet’s teachings has to be narrated by the Imams, the only custodians of his teachings. However, Imams do have their own teachings which form the basis of the hadith attributed to them. This extension lies in the notion of the cosmic role of Imams in Shiʿi ideology. Soon after the demise of the prophet in 11 AH/ 632 AD, the companions of Imam ʿAli commenced the process of documenting the hadith, which continued until the time of the twelfth Imam in 260 AH/ 873 AD. These traditions recount the early documentation of the sayings of Imams in the alleged four hundred foundational works (al-Uṣūl al-arbaʿumi’a) which then befitted as the source of later Shiʿi Hadith compendia. Unlike Sunni, Shiʿa do not hold these reports to be unquestionable authorities, except a small minority of “Scripturalists (al-Akhbāriyyūn).” However, both parties faced common challenges of dating, transmitting, reliability, and evaluating any hadith. Moreover, the issue of hadith forgery, which prevailed in Shiʿi sources due to the exaggerated notions of the divine status of Imams, couldn’t be neglected. Little attention has been paid to the Shiʿi Hadith studies in Western academia despite of the fact that these far outweigh Sunni Hadith in numbers. Until recently, Shiʿi Hadith used to be discussed in conjunction with the Sunni Hadith but the trend is constantly evolving, especially after some decent contributions by contemporary scholars in this genre of Shiʿi literature.
General Overviews
Shiʿi Hadith has always been discussed as an appendix to the Sunni Hadith literature in Western academic literature However, there are some specific introductory works on Shiʿi Hadith (the word Shiʿa should always refer to the Twelver Imami [Ithnā ʿashariyya] denomination of Shiʿi faith in the entire article unless mentioned otherwise). These works are mostly written by Etan Kohlberg. Kohlberg 1983 unfolds a methodology on how to study early hadith resources. Kohlberg 1987 examines the claim of early Shiʿite scholars in about four hundred foundational (uṣūl) hadith collections and exhibits its fictional nature. Motzki 2004 and Brown 2009 attempt to provide information amid their writings on Sunni Hadith. Haider 2011 studies early ritual law hadith to conclude that they are considerably reliable. Kazemi-Moussavi 2003 sketched out Shiʿi Hadith in a comprehensive article elucidating the subtle differences of Shiʿi and Sunni Hadith. The fundamental premises of the scholarship of Ismaʿili Hadith are outlined in Poonawala 2003, while undoubtedly, the most comprehensive scholarship of Shiʿi Hadith is summed up in Kohlberg 2014.
Brown, Jonathan. Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World. Oxford: Oneworld, 2009.
Chapter 4 deals with prophetic traditions in Shiʿi Islam and is a general introduction to Shiʿi Hadith for beginners. It introduces the topic of Shiʿi Hadith criticism and highlights Shiʿi-Sunni Hadith relationships. The chapter fails to provide any data on Ismaʿili Hadith whereas Twelvers and Zaydis are well represented.
Haider, Najm. The Origins of the Shīʿa: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space in Eighth-Century Kūfa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Although this work mainly focuses on the analysis of the advent of Shiʿi identity, part one is a pathbreaking chapter in proposing a methodology for using the tradition for historical information. Provides vivid descriptions of the content of Imamiyah, Zaydi, and Sunni Hadith.
Kazemi-Moussavi, Ahmad. “Hadith in Shiʿism.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 11. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater and Ahmad Ashraf, 447–448. New York: Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation, 2003.
A brief informative article on the introduction of various hadith texts, covering a wide range of early texts up to early-21st-century hadith collections. It points out the subtle differences of hadith texts of the then two major hadith centers, namely Qum and Baghdad. Available online.
Kohlberg, Etan. “Shīʿī Ḥadīth.” In The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature. Vol. 1, Arabic Literature until the End of the Umayyad Period. Edited by A. F. L. Beeston, 299–307. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
A succinct introduction to the collection and transmission of Shiʿi Hadith literature. Kohlberg provides a brief description of the corpus of Shiʿi Hadith by examining sources dating back to the first half of the 2nd to the 8th century. The article invites its reader to explore precanonical works for further and more extensive scholarship.
Kohlberg, Etan. “Western Studies of Shiʿa Islam.” In Shiʿism, Resistance, and Revolution. Edited by Martin Kramer, 31–44. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1987.
A cursory look at Shiʿi Hadith in a generic report on what Western academia has contributed to Shiʿi studies from the 12th to the 19th century.
Kohlberg, Etan. “Introduction: Shi’i Hadīth.” In The Study of Shiʿi Islam: History, Theology and Law. Papers Originally Delivered at the First International Colloquium Dedicated Exclusively to Shi’i Studies, Held in 2010 at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. Edited by Farhad Daftary and Gurdofarid Miskinzoda, 165–179. The Institute of Ismaili Studies. London: I.B. Tauris, 2014.
A seminal and thoroughly updated to the early 21st century introduction to Shiʿi Hadith inclusive of Twelvers, Zaydis, and Ismaʿilis. The footnotes provide a wide range of rich resources for a reader. The writer does not shy from quoting the young emerging scholars of this field. A must-read for anyone studying Shiʿi Hadith.
Motzki, Harald. “Introduction.” In Ḥadīth: Origins and Developments. Edited by Harald Motzki, 13–63. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 2004.
Although the entire introduction pertains to Sunni Hadith, a small section on non-Sunni Hadith and its footnotes is well worth considering, as it prompts questions which serve the purpose of motivation and encouragement for early students of this field.
Poonawala, Ismail K. “Hadith in Ismaʿilism.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 11. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater and Ahmad Ashraf, 449–451. New York: Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation, 2003.
A succinct introduction to the Ismaʿili Hadith literature. The discussion on why and how the literature emerged in Fatamid era is well explained. The reader may get confused about drawing a distinct line between Ismaʿili jurisprudence and Ismaʿili Hadith while reading this introduction. Available online.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abbasid Caliphate
- `Abdolkarim Soroush
- 'Abduh, Muhammad
- ʿAbdul Razzāq Kāshānī
- Abraham
- Abu Sayyaf Group
- Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP)
- Adoption
- Afghani, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-
- Africa, Islam in
- Afterlife, Heaven, Hell
- Ahmad Khan, Sayyid
- Ahmadiyyah Movement, The
- Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
- `A'isha
- 'A’isha al-Baʿuniyya
- 'Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib
- al-Ḥallāj, Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr
- Alawis
- Alhambra
- Al-Maʿarrī
- Almohads
- al-Sadiq, Ja`far
- Al-Siddiq, Abu Bakr
- Amin, Nusrat
- Ḥanbalīs
- Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)
- Animals
- Apostasy
- Arab Painting
- Arab Salafism
- Arab Spring
- Arabic Language and Islam
- Arabic Praise Poems
- Archaeology, Islamic
- Architecture
- Art, Islamic
- Ashʿariyya
- Ashura
- Australia, Islam in
- 'Aysha Abd Al-Rahman
- Ayyubids
- Azhar, al-
- Baha'i Faith
- Balkans, Islam in the
- Banna, Hasan al-
- Bektashi Sufi Order
- Berbers
- Body
- Bourgiba, Habib
- Britain, Islam and Muslims in
- Caliph and Caliphate
- Caucasus
- Central Asia, Islam in
- Chechnya: History, Society, Conflict
- Christianity, Islam and
- Cinema, Turkish
- Civil Society
- Clash of Civilizations
- Contemporary Islamic Popular Culture in Southeast Asia
- David Santillana
- Daʿwa
- Death, Dying, and the Afterlife
- Democracy and Islam
- Deoband Madrasa
- Disabilities, Islam and
- Dome of the Rock
- Dreams and Islam
- Dress and Fashion
- Druze
- Education
- Ethics
- Europe, Islam in
- European Imperialism
- Fahad al-Asker
- Fairuz
- Fana and Baqa
- Farangī Maḥall
- Fatima
- Female Islamic Education Movements
- Finance, Islamic
- Fiqh Al-Aqalliyyat
- Five Pillars of Islam, The
- Gender and Sexuality
- Gender-based Violence and Islam
- Ghadir Khumm
- Ghazali, al-
- Gökalp, Mehmet Ziya
- Gülen, Muhammed Fethullah
- Granada, Nasrids of
- Hadith
- Hadith and Gender
- Hadith Commentary
- Hadith: Shiʿi
- Hamas
- Hanafi School, The
- Hasan
- Hausa
- Hijaz
- Hijaz Railway
- Hilli, al-
- Hip-Hop and Islam
- Historiography
- History of Astronomy and Space Science in the Islamic Worl...
- Hizb al-Nahdah
- Homosexuality
- Human Rights
- Husayn
- Ibadiyya
- Ibn al-ʿArabī
- Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
- Ibn Bâjjah
- Ibn Khaldun
- Ibn Rushd (Averroës)
- Ibn Sīnā
- Ibn Taymiyya
- Ibn Ṭufayl
- Ijtihad
- 'Ilm al-Khilāf / Legal Controversy
- Indonesia, Islam in
- Inheritance
- Inji Efflatoun
- Internet, Islam and the
- Iqbal, Muhammad
- Iran, Islam in
- Iranian Revolution, The
- Islam, Environments and Landscapes in
- Islam in Ethiopia and Eritrea
- Islam, Nature, and the Environment
- Islamic Aesthetics
- Islamic Calligraphy
- Islamic Exegesis, Christians and Christianity in
- Islamic Law and Gender
- Islamic Print Media
- Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
- Islamic Studies, Food in
- Islamic Trends and Movements in Contemporary Sub-Saharan A...
- Islamophobia
- Japan, Islam in
- Jesus
- Jewish-Muslim Relations
- Jihad
- Jilani, `Abd al-Qadir al (Gilani)
- Ka`aba
- Karbala in Shiʿi Ritual
- Khaled Al Siddiq
- Kharijites
- Kharijites and Contemporary Scholarship, The
- Khatami, Muhammad
- Khomeini, Ruhollah Mousavi
- Kurds, The
- Law, Islamic Criminal
- Literature and Muslim Women
- Maher Zain
- Malcolm X
- Malikis
- Maḥmūd Gāvān
- Marriage
- Martyrdom (Shahada)
- Mary in Islam
- Mawdudi, Sayyid Abuʾl-Aʾla
- Medina
- Medina, The Constitution of
- Method in the Study of Islam
- Middle East and North Africa, Islam in
- Mihna
- Miskawayh
- Modern and Contemporary Egyptian Art
- Modernism
- Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
- Moses
- Māturīdī
- Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
- Muhammad
- Muhammad, Elijah
- Muhammad, Tomb of
- Muharram
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Muslim Nonviolence
- Muslim Pilgrimage Traditions in West Africa
- Muslim Television Preachers
- Mutʿa
- Mu`tazilites
- Nana Asma'u bint Usman ‘dan Fodio
- Nation of Islam
- Nationalism
- Nigeria, Islam in
- Nizar Qabbani
- North America, Islam in
- Nursi, Said
- On the History of the Book in Islamic Studies
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation
- Orientalism and Islam
- Ottoman Empire, Islam in the
- Ottoman Empire, Millet System in the
- Ottoman Women
- Pamuk, Orhan
- Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper in Islamic Studies
- PAS
- People of the Book
- Philippines, Islam in the
- Philosophy, Islamic
- Pilgrimage and Religious Travel
- Political Islam
- Political Theory, Islamic
- Post-Ottoman Syria, Islam in
- Pre-Islamic Arabia/The Jahiliyya
- Principles of Law
- Progressive Muslim Thought, Progressive Islam and
- Purity
- Qaeda, al-
- Qaradawi, Yusuf al-
- Qur'an
- Qurʾan and Contemporary Analysis
- Qurʾan and Context
- Qutb, Sayyid
- Razi, Fakhr al-Din al-
- Reformist Muslims in Contemporary America
- Russia, Islam in
- Sadra, Mulla
- Safavids
- Sahara, The Kunta of the
- Saiyid Ahmad of Rai Bareli
- Salafism
- Sarekat Islam
- Science and Medicine
- Shafi`is
- Shari`a (Islamic Law)
- Shari'ati, Ali
- Shaṭṭārīya
- Shaykhism
- Shiʿa, Ismaʿili
- Shiʿa, Twelver
- Shi`i Islam
- Shi‘I Shrine Cities
- Shi'i Tafsir, Twelver
- Sicily, Islam in
- Sociology and Anthropology
- South Asia, Islam in
- Southeast Asia, Islam in
- Spain, Muslim
- Sīra
- Sufism
- Sufism in the United States
- Suhrawardī, Shihāb al-Dīn
- Sukarno
- Sunna
- Sunni Islam
- Tabari, -al
- Tablighi Jamaʿat
- Tafsir
- Tafsir, Women and
- Taha, Mahmūd Muhammad
- Taliban
- Tanzīh and Tashbīh in Classical Islamic Theological Though...
- Textual Criticism, Qur'an and
- The Babi Movement
- The Barelvī School of Thought
- The Nizari Ismailis of the Persianate World
- Theology
- Turabi, Hassan al-
- Turkey, Islam in
- Turkish Language, Literature, and Islam
- Twelver Shi'ism in Modern India
- Twelver Shi'ism in Pakistan
- Umayyads, The
- Wahhabism
- Women in Islam
- Yemen, Islam in
- Zaydiyya